Turlock man among four Americans to die recently in Dominican Republic

Memorial web page for Bob Bell Wallace is pictured. The Turlock man is one of four Americans who have mysteriously died while vacationing in the Dominican Republic in the past few months. Wallace, 67, became severely ill in April after drinking scotch from the minibar in his room at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino resort in Punta Cana.
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A Turlock man is one of four Americans who have mysteriously died while vacationing in the Dominican Republic in the past few months. The deaths are now being investigated by the FBI.

Robert Bell Wallace, 67, became severely ill in April after drinking scotch from the minibar in his room at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino resort in Punta Cana, his niece told Fox News.

Chloe Arnold told the station that her uncle experienced blood in his stool and urine. The hotel doctor advised him to go to the hospital two days later, and he died the next day. Reached by The Modesto Bee Tuesday, Arnold declined to comment further.

Wallace’s death was among several recently reported among tourists to the Dominican Republic.

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People Magazine reported that a Pennsylvania woman died May 25 shortly after drinking from the minibar at Bahia Principe La Romana hotel. Five days later, a Maryland couple was found unresponsive in their rooms at a hotel on the same resort.

A Maryland man also died suddenly last year at the same Hard Rock Hotel at which Wallace was staying, according to Fox News.

Dominican authorities told Fox News that preliminary and final autopsy reports indicate that all died of natural causes, but families of the deceased are waiting on toxicology results.

The family was in the Dominican Republic for Ticknoff’s wedding. Wallace died the day of the wedding, Tickenoff told the station.

Wallace owned a construction company and Timberline Sports Company in Turlock, according to his obituary in The Modesto Bee. The family also established a memorial website; a celebration of life service is set June 29.

The obituary said he loved travel and that he “worked hard and played even harder.”

Authorities in Fiji said Tuesday that a young Texas couple vacationing in the South Pacific country died from an unidentified illness. The couple, David and Michelle Paul, were from Fort Worth.

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